


Smiles of Impossible Life.

by BarPurple



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Date Night, F/M, Fluff, Tiny bit of Angst, impossible physics, is this a little bit porny?, maybe erotic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 14:48:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1609025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor knows the best planets for a romantic picnic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smiles of Impossible Life.

It was unusual for River to be this still; normally she was scarcely contained chaos in killer red heels. For this moment she was as calm as the sea in front of her. She put her empty glass down on the blanket that held the remains of their picnic and leaned back into the arms of her husband.

The Doctor smiled fondly as his wife uncurled her legs and eased them out in front of her. His own gangly legs unconsciously echoed her movements and came to rest on either side of hers. River wriggled a little as she settled her back against his chest. With a happy sigh he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head against the familiar blue wood of the TARDIS behind him.

For a few moments they were both quiet, wiggling their toes to the rhythm of the undulating waves of the golden sea. His left foot, then her left and right and finally his right foot flexing in a slow Mexican Wave millions of light years away from the little country that gave its name to the action.

He smoothed her frantic curls and bestowed a quick kiss to her temple before resting his chin on her shoulder. River lazily stroked his arms as he spoke quietly.

“This is the driest planet in this galaxy. It’s one of the driest in the universe. The air is so arid out there living things undergo instant mummification. If the TARDIS wasn’t projecting her environmental shell around us we’d be desiccated husks in minutes.”  
“Well it’s not a date with you dear unless there’s a chance of dying.” 

The Doctor smiled and rocked a little to make River hush so he could continue.

“There’s no definate explanation as to how the sea exists. It shouldn’t be here; an impossible ocean that contains even more impossible life. In those golden waters there are amphibian larvae that have been born and grown for fifty years just waiting for this day.”

“And what happens today?”

The Doctor grinned and kissed River’s shoulder before whispering softly into her ear;

“Spoilers sweetie.”

River felt a delicious shiver as his warm breath teased her ear with her own words. She turned her head to steal a kiss from his lips and replied;

“You are such a tease.”

“You wouldn't have me any other way.”

The Doctor kissed her nose and carried on with his explanation.

“For the first time in half a century all four suns will rise together. This is what the amphibians have been waiting for. The four suns together will trigger the final metamorphosis for them and we’re here to witness it. This is an event that only a handful of non-native beings have ever seen and it’s starting right now…”

A four beat pause and then it happened. The suns swelled over the horizon and River gasped in wonder as the night disappeared before her eyes. From the left a red giant cleared the horizon first and turned the golden sea before them into a blood crested expanse. To the right the red giant’s sluggish orange twin appeared and softened the colour of the sea to that of old rose gold. The two suns danced across the sky towards each other. They only had the stage to themselves for a moment before a second pair joined the dance. 

From the right came a dwarf sun of deepest blue. Its partner rapidly ascended from the left, again a dwarf in size but coloured an impossible green. River’s breath caught in her throat as the four suns hung in the sky seemingly without moving; their colours fighting for dominance over the sea below them. Her breath rushed out of her as suddenly all four orbs moved together into a perfect conjunction.

Their combined light was the purest white, somehow so deep that the promise of rainbows was thick within it. The Doctor murmured in her ear;

“Watch the sea. The accepted theory is that the sea is held in place by natural gravity well. The combined pull of the four suns overwhelms the sea’s gravity and forces the transition.”

Dragging her eyes away from the spectacle in the sky River focused on the sea. The gentle golden waves were gone replaced by silver crystals. No, crystals suggested a solid rigid form; these silver gems flowed and morphed between delicate forms.

“Like snowflakes made of mercury.”

River felt the Doctor nod in agreement and then he gave her an excited squeeze as the next act of this natural marvel began.  
The surface of the crystal sea erupted skyward. The fluid snowflakes strained and twisted as they reached higher into the light. The merciless suns burnt away their cohesion and the crystals evaporated covering the land in a hazy fog that glittered and caused tiny pinpoints to dance across the spectrum. As each new layer was stripped from the sea the haze became denser blocking out the suns. River suddenly realised what was happening in front of her.

“The whole sea is going to boil.”

“Yes. It’s okay. Watch.”

The hazy mists rose and thicken to the point where they left the realms of fog and became clouds. The suns were no longer visible, but made their presence known through the flittering rainbows that danced in the clouds. As the last tendrils made the journey skywards the seabed was revealed. 

Scattered in the now empty basin were furry rocks. The rainbows dimmed and faded causing a gloom to infuse the air. As if waiting for this signal the furry rocks shivered and unfurled. From each apparently inert rock dozens of salamander like creatures emerged. They had the cheerful faces of Axolotls and River’s own face bloomed into a smile. A quick glance sideways and the gloom that had fallen instantly brighten for her as she saw her husband’s wide, boyish grin. He refocused her on the miracle in front of them with an urgent nod of his head.

The clouds had lost almost all of their former sparkle now, but the happy amphibians were unconcerned. At the moment the darkness was the deepest the creatures that had waited fifty years for this moment lifted their heads to the sky and sang. The melody was euphoric and swept over the watching couple. There was a groan of relaxed pleasure and River realised half of it had trickled from her own throat to join the same response from the Doctor. It was as if they had been wrapped in tangible joy.  
As the amphibians sang they began to twist and writhe together in a sinuous dance. From the chaos of their initial movements an order became apparent as they formed a living spire that yearned and reached towards the sky. 

The clouds swirled and boiled echoing the pulse and rhythm of the dance below. The twisting mass reached a critical level and suddenly the sky was torn asunder as a swirling funnel appeared above the towing spire of life below. The world was flooded in a rainbow of light that could have come from the sky, or found its source in the amphibians. The reflections and refractions of the bouncing spectrums marked an increase in the delirium of the amphibians’ song. A conflict of sorts was raging between the clouds and the creatures. Playing out in front of the Doctor and River was a constant motion of advance and retreat; pushing and pulling; ebbing and flowing. Neither side giving nor gaining ground for what felt like an eternity. 

The tension built to near intolerable levels and then as tenderly as the kiss of summer rain the two became one. The amphibians sang a single note as sweet as honey and flooded upwards into the embrace of the clouds.

River had been enraptured by the wonder before her. She was panting, dragging the air into her lungs as though she’d been holding her breath. From the husky quality of his voice in her ear she guessed the Doctor had experienced the same thing.  
“The suns will stay above the horizon for forty days now. The amphibians will live in the clouds for that all that time. As the final sun sets the clouds will burst and rain down as liquid crystals. Each one will contain the spawn of a new generation. The bodies of their parents melt and dissolve into the rain to form the sea that their young will thrive in for the next fifty years.”

The Doctor gave a sad sigh at the loss in the cycle of life. River turned her face towards her beautiful idiot.

“The loss brings forth life, sweetie. Pain and sorrow are just the other side of the coin of love. Don’t mourn, celebrate.”

She captured his lips in a long kiss that the Doctor poured all of his love for her into. His bespoke psychopath, the woman who killed him, the woman he married, his wife, his love.

**Author's Note:**

> Axolotls are real creatures. Click the link, I bet you'll smile.
> 
> http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/axolotl/
> 
> This is the first time I've written River Song. She's a bad girl and a terrible influence. This was intended as a sweet fluffy fic and somehow turned rather suggestive. I lay the blame firmly at her red high heel clad feet. Also the thanks, as I rather enjoyed the unexpected turn this took.
> 
> Thank you for reading. Comments and kudos are, as ever, as essential as a good cuppa.


End file.
